He did it first...
This is fascinating (from The Corner). There's been a lot of criticism (rightly) of the nudge nudge, wink wink 'his middle name is Hussein' message about Obama.
So who started it? Who said this (the first recorded such example)? Well, I think if you've got a guy named Barack Hussein Obama, that's a pretty good contrast to George W. Bush.
Have a guess.
This man did it first:
This is from Bret Stephens' WSJ column:
Sometime before Barack Obama's middle name slipped into the realm of the unmentionable, it was supposed to be a selling point of his candidacy. "Well, I think if you've got a guy named Barack Hussein Obama, that's a pretty good contrast to George W. Bush," Mr. Obama told PBS's Tavis Smiley on October 18, 2007. "If you believe that we've got to heal America and we've got to repair our standing in the world, then I think my supporters believe that I am the messenger who can deliver that message."
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Verity
March 12th, 2008 4:48pmHe's barking. Handsome, elegant, eloquent but totally barking. And his middle name is Hussein.
Joshua
March 12th, 2008 5:44pmHe'd have many more problems, most particularly in Britain, if his last name was Cohen.
Water
March 12th, 2008 7:59pmHe did it first... in America and you got to love him for it. Though in the spirit of comparative analysis the largest minority group in England (if the statistics in The Metro hold true) is compiled of those of Indian ancestry. Which means a British version of Obama would probably have a slightly longer middle name, to hell with it a slightly longer middle and first name as well.
Verity
March 13th, 2008 4:15amPlus, frankly, he looks better in his clothes. He seems to have Tony Blair man boobs.